London River Services is a division of Transport for London (TfL), which manages passenger transport on the River Thames in London, UK. They do not own or operate any boats but license the services of other operators. The services they regulate are a mixture of leisure-oriented tourist services and commuter services.[1]

The River Thames is generally no more than 300m wide as it runs through central London, and is easily crossed by bridge or tunnel. River boat services in London therefore mostly travel east or west along the Thames rather than across it, and the only major cross-river ferry services are to be found further downstream where the river is wider.

London's river service network is not as extensive as those of Hong Kong or Sydney, but with recent investment in river public transport and the creation of London River Services, water transport in the British capital is experiencing a revival. More than 2,000 commuters a day now travel by river[2] which adds up to three million people per year, a figure that increased by tourist traffic during and post the 2012 Olympics games.

Passenger steamboats were introduced in 1815 and the use of the river as a means of public transport increased greatly. River services ran from Gravesend, Margate and Ramsgate via Greenwich and Woolwich into central London. By the mid-1850s about 15,000 people per day travelled to work on steamboat services – twice the number of passengers on the newly emerging railways.[5] With increased congestion on the river, collisions and other accidents became correspondingly more frequent, most notably with the Princess Alice disaster at Woolwich in 1878.[6]

While the introduction of large steamboats and bridge construction had taken business from the Thames watermen, the growth of the railways took passengers away from the steamboat services and the use of the river for public transport began a steady decline. River service companies struggled financially, and in 1876 the five main boat companies merged to form the London Steamboat Company. The company ran a half-hourly service from Chelsea to Greenwich for eight years until it went bankrupt in 1884. Nevertheless, river services continued under different management into the next century. Many of the Thames paddle steamers around this time were built by the Thames Ironworks at Bow Creek.[7]

In 1905 the London County Council launched its own public river transport service to complement its new tram network, acquiring piers and investing in a large fleet of 30 paddle-steamers.[8] Frequent services operated from Hammersmith to Greenwich. The LCC river service was not a success; in the first year it ran up debts of £30,000. It was shut down in 1907 after only two years' service.[9][10]

Numerous proposals for "river bus" services were considered throughout the Twentieth Century, although the few that were realised were cancelled after a short time in service.[11] In 1940, a temporary wartime river bus service was introduced using commandeered pleasure cruisers to replace train and tram services which were disrupted by the bombing of the Blitz.[12]

With the move of the Port of London downstream in the 1960s, regular river transport was limited to a few sightseeing boats.

In 1997 the then Secretary of State for Transport, John Prescott, launched Thames 2000, a £21-million project to regenerate the River Thames in time for the Millennium Celebrations and boost new passenger transport services on the Thames.[13] The centrepiece of these celebrations was to be the Millennium Dome, but there was also a plan to provide a longer-term legacy of public transport boat services and piers on the river.

River traffic around Waterloo Pier in 2008

The Cross-River Partnership, a consortium of local authorities, private sector organisations and voluntary bodies, recommended the creation of a public body to co-ordinate and promote river services. This agency, provisionally titled the Thames Piers Agency, would integrate boat services into other modes of public transport, take control of Thames piers from the Port of London Authority, and commission the construction of new piers.[14]

The result was the formation in 1999 of London River Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London.

Ken Livingstone's Transport Strategy for London 2005 states that: The safe use of the Thames for passenger and freight services should be developed. Passenger services will be encouraged, particularly services that relate to its cultural and architectural excellence and tourism. Use of London's other navigable waterways for freight, consistent with their roles for leisure use and as ecosystems, will be encouraged.[15]

LRS is responsible for integrating river transport with the rest of the public transport network, such as the Tube and buses. It promotes boat services under the London River Services brand, issuing timetables and river maps.

LRS is also responsible for directly managing eight piers on the river, and has invested in LRS-branded signage and passenger information.

Following its launch the service was criticised for its lack of subsidy for private boat operators.[16] LRS now supports the Thames Clipper commuter service financially and has increased the peak service frequency to a boat every 15 minutes.[14] In April 2009, the signing of a "River Concordat" by London’s pier owners, boat operators, borough councils and Transport for London was announced, committing the various partners to improving ticketing, piers and passenger information, and to closer integration into the transport network.[17]

The public presentation of London River Services is visually associated with existing TfL design standards, using identical graphic design elements to those used on London Underground publicity, signage and other elements, drawing on the design heritage of Harry Beck.

The London River Services brand is a sub-brand of TfL which uses the familiar Tube roundel, originally devised for London Underground and now established as the corporate branding for all TfL services. The River Services roundel is a dark blue bar (Pantone 072) on pale blue circle (Pantone 299).

Corporate signage, stationery and literature all use the New Johnston typeface in common with other TfL services.[19]

LRS publishes diagrammatic river maps in the tradition of Harry Beck's iconic Tube map. Tube maps published by TfL since 2000 denote river interchange stations with a boat symbol.

These river services run to a timetable through the day with more frequent services during peak rush hour times. Most services run seven days a week, although some do not operate at weekends. Many operators offer discounted fares to Travelcard holders. The main lines of operation are:

Embankment – Woolwich

Putney – Chelsea Harbour – Cadogan – Embankment – Blackfriars

The catamaran-hulled vessels have on-board coffee bars, airline-style seating, are wheelchair-accessible and have bicycle racks.

In central London, the River Thames is narrow enough to allow it to be crossed by many bridges; further downstream however, the river widens and there are fewer bridge crossings. Two ferry services are still in operation:

A tourist boat operated by Bateaux London Catamaran Cruisers on the River Thames

Leisure boats are aimed mainly at the tourist market; as they do not usually provide rush hour services, they are not normally suitable for commuting. Some boat companies run regular scheduled services, others may run twice daily, only on certain days of the week, or only during certain months of the year. Boats may also be chartered for private hire. Destinations are often tourist attractions such as the Tate Galleries or Hampton Court Palace.

Unlike the underground and bus networks, boat operators have their own separate ticketing arrangements and charge separate fares which are generally higher than corresponding journeys by tube or bus. The only exception is the Woolwich Ferry, which is free of charge.

Oyster card is valid on most Thames Clipper services for single fares, offering a ten percent discount. Most boat operators offer discounts to Travelcard holders, as well as to freedom pass holders and students.

Ticket sales at piers are managed independently by the operators, and tickets are sold at separate kiosks with no facility for cross-ticketing. Many piers have a line of several sales desks, each owned by a different boat firm. Single tickets can often be bought on board the boat, but this is down to individual operator arrangements.

Some operators offer their own season tickets and carnets of single tickets. Thames Clipper, for example, offer a one-day Roamer ticket which allows multiple journeys within off-peak hours.

^"Hansard". Hansard, 8 Apr 1998 : Column 796. 8 April 1998. Retrieved 30 March 2008. We expect a million people to travel by boat from central London. There will be new piers and new river services and there will also be a certain number of park-and-ride facilities.

^Robert Lea and Jonathan Prynn (12 February 2003). "Commuter service sold down the river". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 March 2008. Andy Griffiths, head of TfL's London River Services division, said that the question of subsidy for commuter river services has thus far been thrown out by TfL on a value-for-money basis. 'The capital cost of the craft and the crewing costs are just so vastly out of kilter with other modes of transport on cost-per-passenger basis,' he said. The view within TfL, Griffiths added, is simply that the Thames will just never be suitable as a mass transit market.

^Mike O'Connor, Director of the Millennium Commission (13 July 2000). "Ken Livingstone Opens New Millennium Commission Funded Pier". The Millennium Commission. Retrieved 30 March 2008. The Thames is vastly underused as a transport system for London. Thames 2000 is contributing much needed new piers for London which will serve a new sustainable transport system and promote greater use of the river. Visitors and residents will be able to use the Thames to reach other Millennium Commission funded attractions such as the new Tate Modern.